Retailers suffer shoplifting losses that are in the billions of dollars each year. Countless surveillance and electronic security methods are known to prevent or reduce the incidence of shoplifting in retail venues such as shopping malls, boutique shops and discount or warehouse outlets. Although effective, these preventative measures do little to protect the retailer from secondary shoplifting schemes—skullduggery performed once the merchandise has been shoplifted from store premises.
With the profusion in anti-shoplifting technology, shoplifting techniques have correspondingly grown savvier. A common practice is for the shoplifter or a confederate to return a shoplifted item to a store or sister store in a retail chain for a cash refund, store credit or exchange. As items are often given as gifts, many retailers will provide a cash refund, store credit or exchange without a sales receipt if the merchandise carries an untampered price tag identifying the store.
Another deceptive practice is to purchase a retail item at a discount store and return the item at a more sophisticated department store for a cash refund or store credit greater than the purchase price. Many retailers have difficulty verifying that a merchandise item was sold at one of their stores. Retailers are oftentimes deterred from placing store labels on products as consumers have demonstrated a reluctance in purchasing items as gifts wherein the product carries excessive printing.
A need therefore exists for a system and method of verifying that an item has been legitimately purchased to prevent fraudulent cash refunds, store credit or exchanges on returned retail merchandise. A need subsequently exists for a system and method to identify the specific store in which a particular merchandise item was purchased.